Colleen Ritzer Memorial Scholarship
Donation protected
My name is Dan Ritzer, and a little over a year ago my family and I’s lives would change forever. My older sister, Colleen, was a high school Math teacher at Danvers High School in Massachusetts. She woke up every day with a smile on her face, and absolutely loved what she did. She wanted to be a teacher since day one and she would not let anyone stop her from accomplishing this dream. She enjoyed the little things in life, whether that be simply spending time with the family or spending countless hours trying to find new and interesting ways to teach and keep her students excited. Colleen was my role model. She inspired me to do more with my life, whether it came to school and grades, or simply being nice and genuine to people around us. She helped me when I needed it, and put me in my place when I deserved it. She was the greatest sister a kid could ask for.
On October 22, 2013, the day started out as usual. Colleen woke up, got ready, packed her bags, and headed off to school for another day of teaching. After the school day ended, she stayed after to help a student for an upcoming exam. In actuality, this student never needed help for anything. He later went on to take my sisters life that afternoon. She was only 24. This was hands down the hardest day in my life.
Now comes the reason why I am here today and writing this for everyone to see. If there was one thing that stood out about Colleen, it was her absolute love for the Christmas season. Whether it was simply listening to Christmas songs on the radio, decorating the tree, and by far her favorite, watching Home Alone any chance she could; she loved it all. I loved this about her, but as I’m sure you can imagine, it makes this time of year extremely difficult for our family. Its hard to decorate the tree without her, its hard hearing the songs she used to love, but we do our best to get through it day by day. Because of this, my little sister, and I want to try and do something really special for my parents this year, and put a smile on their faces this Christmas. They have done more for us than we have ever deserved and this is the least we can do for them.
In honor of my sister, my family has put together a scholarship fund in her name. The Colleen E. Ritzer Memorial Scholarship is set up to benefit high school seniors who plan on pursuing a degree in the field of education. This Christmas, there is nothing more we want to do than to make them happy and put a smile on their face. We want to be able to surprise them and hand them a check to be donated to the scholarship fund on Christmas morning to show not only how many people truly care about them, but to show them just how long Colleen’s legacy can and will last.
So lastly I ask, please help me not only put a smile on my parent’s faces this Christmas, but help me keep my sister’s life and legacy alive. Merry Christmas and thank you to anyone who is able to donate! In addition, please do you your best to not share this with our parents! We really want it to be a complete surprise.
I’d also like to end this with Colleen’s favorite quote and remind people this holiday season, “No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”
If you would like to learn more about Colleen, or any other ways to help or support, please feel free to vist:
colleenritzerscholarship.com
On October 22, 2013, the day started out as usual. Colleen woke up, got ready, packed her bags, and headed off to school for another day of teaching. After the school day ended, she stayed after to help a student for an upcoming exam. In actuality, this student never needed help for anything. He later went on to take my sisters life that afternoon. She was only 24. This was hands down the hardest day in my life.
Now comes the reason why I am here today and writing this for everyone to see. If there was one thing that stood out about Colleen, it was her absolute love for the Christmas season. Whether it was simply listening to Christmas songs on the radio, decorating the tree, and by far her favorite, watching Home Alone any chance she could; she loved it all. I loved this about her, but as I’m sure you can imagine, it makes this time of year extremely difficult for our family. Its hard to decorate the tree without her, its hard hearing the songs she used to love, but we do our best to get through it day by day. Because of this, my little sister, and I want to try and do something really special for my parents this year, and put a smile on their faces this Christmas. They have done more for us than we have ever deserved and this is the least we can do for them.
In honor of my sister, my family has put together a scholarship fund in her name. The Colleen E. Ritzer Memorial Scholarship is set up to benefit high school seniors who plan on pursuing a degree in the field of education. This Christmas, there is nothing more we want to do than to make them happy and put a smile on their face. We want to be able to surprise them and hand them a check to be donated to the scholarship fund on Christmas morning to show not only how many people truly care about them, but to show them just how long Colleen’s legacy can and will last.
So lastly I ask, please help me not only put a smile on my parent’s faces this Christmas, but help me keep my sister’s life and legacy alive. Merry Christmas and thank you to anyone who is able to donate! In addition, please do you your best to not share this with our parents! We really want it to be a complete surprise.
I’d also like to end this with Colleen’s favorite quote and remind people this holiday season, “No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”
If you would like to learn more about Colleen, or any other ways to help or support, please feel free to vist:
colleenritzerscholarship.com
Organizer
Dan Ritzer
Organizer
Andover, MA
